The African continent is splitting in two and a new continent will eventually be formed. The reason is a geologic rift which runs down the eastern side of the continent and will eventually be replaced with an ocean.
This phenomenon is caused by the geography you may remember from school days; the tectonic plates.
The Earth’s crust is divided into different sections called tectonic plates; the huge rocky slabs made up from the Earth’s crust and upper mantle. These massive sheets are continually being pushed around by movements in the mantle (one of the three main layers of Earth, consisting of hot, dense, semisolid rock) which is shifting millimetre by millimetre, re-shaping the Earth’s surface over millions of years. (the article continues after the ad)
As the rift continues, it will eventually cause the eastern part of Africa to split away from the rest creating a new “Somali plate” and sea in the process.
Since 2005, this process is underway and in north-eastern Africa’s Afar Triangle, hundreds of crevices are reported as splitting the desert floor and the ground has slumped by as much as 100m:
This process will take millions of years, but here’s how Africa will look in around 50 millions years:
In a few million years time this process will cause Africa to split in two, creating an entirely new continent. If we use the current geography of Africa, this huge new continent would include all of Somalia and half of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
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Source: www.mgafrica.com
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